


There's a First Time for Everything

by whythursdaynext



Category: Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back
Genre: A new hope, Empire Strikes Back, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, also in honor of the now dead extended universe, and, i am trash, in honor of the force awakens, seriously i did not realize how much han x leia trash i was, set between, swap fic, this is now my headcannon, until i started watching empire again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 07:52:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5619301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whythursdaynext/pseuds/whythursdaynext
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Han x Leia fic, set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back</p><p>After another rebel base is destroyed by the Empire, Han tries to cheer Leia up with a glass of Corellian whiskey. It may work a little too well…</p>
            </blockquote>





	There's a First Time for Everything

**Author's Note:**

  * For [plinys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/plinys/gifts).



At the all hands meeting that day, General Rieekan reported the death of 500 rebels at the base on Orion IV, slaughtered in cold blood by imperial forces. They all bowed their heads in a moment of silence, then the General pushed on to restocking their food and ammunition supplies. It wasn’t like casualties were unusual, but Han would have thought that such a major loss would have been dwelt on. Other than that moment, and a general feeling of solemnity, the rest of the meeting was just like any other.

After the room was dismissed, Han found himself walking next to Leia, who was quiet and subdued instead of her usual sharp-tempered, confrontational self. They had turned down the first hallway towards the main base when Han heard her mutter, “I need a drink.”

“I can arrange that,” Han said.

Leia, startled, jumped near a full parsec off the ground and swore, “Han. Where did you come from?”

“All hands. Same as you.”

“Right,” Leia said, leaning against the wall. “The all hands meeting.”

Han shook his head in the general direction of the hanger. “You know, if you still need that drink, I’ve got a bottle of Corellian Whiskey up on the Falcon. Good stuff too. Local quality, not export.”

Leia closed her eyes and sighed. “I really should get back to the command center, I’m sure the General’s going to need an extra set of eyes on the reconnaissance briefings after the last few days.”

Han lay his hand on her arm. “I’m sure the general can spare you for an hour or two,” he said. “Come have a glass and then you can get back to running the rebellion or whatever you do.”

Leia rolled her eyes at him, but with far less aggression than usual. “Fine. One drink.”

They headed back to the Falcon, Han absentmindedly patting the ramp hydraulics on their way into the ship. Leia followed him to the galley, a few steps behind because she was peering into all the side hallways. “Where’s Chewie?” she asked.

Han sheepishly ran his hand through his hair. “Medical. He accidentally got singed on the back hyperdrive power converters.” He pulled the flask of whiskey and two glasses out of a tiny corner drawer.

Leia raised an eyebrow. “Remind me why you still fly this piece of shit.”

“Hey, this piece of shit has saved mine and Chewie’s ass more times than I can count, and yours too. Twice we saved you.”

“Fine. But have you ever considered that there’s a whole fleet here of ships far more-” She was interrupted by Han, shoving a full glass in her face. “Drink this, and stop insulting my ship.”

She accepted it without comment, but not without an eye roll. Han found his way across the room to the bench behind the holochess table and sprawled, whiskey hanging over the table, one leg stretched out on the bench. Leia took a sip from her glass and pushed herself off the wall of the Falcon. She wandered over to the holochess table and glared at Han’s leg for a full minute before pushing it off the bench and sliding across to sit next to him.

They sat silently for a few moments, both sipping their whiskey slowly. Leia sat her glass down on the table hard and turned towards him, awkwardly because of the booth. “Sitting here in silence is not helping me forget this day or this week or this year,” she said, “You got any good stories? The amazing adventures of the scoundrel Han Solo and his faithful copilot, Chewbacca?”

Han shrugged. “I don’t know. Smuggling ain’t exactly known for its glamour.”

Leia nudged him with her elbow. “Come on, you’ve got to have something? How’d you get the Falcon? When did you do the Kessel run in 12 parsecs?”

Han leaned back a little further and grinned, “Well, the Kessel run was one hell of an adventure.”

An hour later, Leia’s head was leaning on Han’s shoulder. He was just finishing up the tale of the 12 parsec Kessel run, which had started slowly with a list of goods Jabba the Hut wanted smuggled off planet and was closing with the Falcon barely dodging Tie-Fighter blasts on its way out. For a while there, she had completely forgotten the events of the past week, or the hours and hours of recon data she still needed to sift through before she could sleep, or the fact that the base they’d lost had been a fifth of the Rebellion’s fleet. It was the first time in a long time she could just exist, without contingency planning or covering for somebody else.

It was such a nice feeling.

“…and then Chewie and I made it back to Jabba, and the payout was big, yeah, but more importantly, I knew that I had the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.” Han patted the Holochess table affectionately.

Leia smiled up at him, and then she watched his hands and his jaw and Princess Leia, former Imperial Senator and current leader in the Rebellion, decided to be selfish for the first time in a really long time.

Han stopped patting the table and picked up his glass. He downed the last drops of Correllian whiskey, thinking warm thoughts about his ship. He set his glass back down on the table, and felt suddenly the absence of the weight of Leia’s head on his shoulder, which was a shame, because he kinda liked how that felt. But he didn’t have long to regret, because a moment later, her hand was caught up in his hair and her lips brushed his and Han lost all conscious thought. She smelt of soap and tasted like whiskey, and only a few minutes later he had pulled her into his lap, his hands on her hips, hers wrapped around his neck. When they had finally paused for breath, Han looked into her deep brown eyes and knew that this was the tipping point, that he was in over his head.

“Han,” Leia said.

“Yes,” Han answered, barely remembering what words were and how to use them.

“The door’s closed?”

“Yes, princess,” he answered, with not even a tinge of sarcasm.

“And Chewie’s going to be down in Medical all night?”

“Uh huh.”

“Good.” She smiled widely, the first big smile he’d seen her wear since Yavin. “Come with me.”

“What- oh..” Han said, and let her drag him off to his bunk.

The next morning, Leia shoved her boots on and said, “Not a WORD of this to anyone, you understand?”

“Captain’s honor,” Han said, thinking that staying on her good side was definitely the best way to go about this, but also knowing that he really wanted to tell Chewie.

She glared. “PROMISE.”

Han put on his best innocent face and said, “Promised. I will not say anything about this to anyone at all.”

“Not a word,” Leia said, with one last death stare. She bounded out of the room, in her usual imperious fashion. Han leaned back in his chair and frowned at the ceiling, trying to figure out how he’d gotten himself here. 

A second later, Leia bounced back into the room. She kissed Han on the cheek.

“Thanks for last night,” Leia said over her shoulder on her way out the door. 

“You’re welcome,” Han yelled as she disappeared out the door. 

He spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get himself in the same place again.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a swap fic for plinys on tumblr. I finished WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY late :( but here it is. This is also my swan song for the extended universe books, which spend a ton of time on Han and Leia's relationship, and which are all no longer cannon, except in my heart. Hope you enjoyed!


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